http://www.formfollowsbehavior.com/2007/02/22/borders-areas-and-fractals/ informal reflections Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:38:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.formfollowsbehavior.com/2007/02/22/borders-areas-and-fractals/#comment-98 formfollowsbehavior.com » Blog Archive » On the integrity of an object Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:23:13 +0000 http://www.formfollowsbehavior.com/2007/02/22/borders-areas-and-fractals/#comment-98 [...] At the center of my theory of adaptibility lies the idea of an object. Our recognition of an object as a type is based on its class integrity—the degree to which its attributes overlap with those of its object class. As an object adapts in form and shape, its semantic qualities must predominantly match those of its object class, in order for it to be continuously recognized as a particular type. There is a point at which an object may have adapted beyond its original semantic boundaries, altering the position of the object in relation to its class. This is what I will call a class shift. I find it important to note that category boundaries are never absolute—instead, they are a fuzzy boundaries which permit infinite permutations of objects. Furthermore, it is possible that a class shift does not simply move an object from class A to class B, but creates a new class C as a result, which lies somewhere in between the two former classes. In societal terms, object classes are negotiated by general concensus, and are never measurable—they are merely understood. [...] [...] At the center of my theory of adaptibility lies the idea of an object. Our recognition of an object as a type is based on its class integrity—the degree to which its attributes overlap with those of its object class. As an object adapts in form and shape, its semantic qualities must predominantly match those of its object class, in order for it to be continuously recognized as a particular type. There is a point at which an object may have adapted beyond its original semantic boundaries, altering the position of the object in relation to its class. This is what I will call a class shift. I find it important to note that category boundaries are never absolute—instead, they are a fuzzy boundaries which permit infinite permutations of objects. Furthermore, it is possible that a class shift does not simply move an object from class A to class B, but creates a new class C as a result, which lies somewhere in between the two former classes. In societal terms, object classes are negotiated by general concensus, and are never measurable—they are merely understood. [...]

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